Naperville Central-North square off in rivalry matchup

Updated: October 13, 2011 6:45PM

Over the years, performances from guys like Tim Lavery, Ryan Clifford, Owen Daniels, Phil Horvath, Chris Brown, Justin McCareins and Jordan Tassio have defined it.

The stars and the select few everybody has had their eyes trained on throughout the years is what has long defined the Naperville Central-Naperville North rivalry.

The two programs reconvene Friday at North Central College, going against each other this far into a season since meeting in Week 8 of the 2000 season.

That 2000 season marked the programs’ first meeting at North Central College and Naperville North’s 36-33 upset of top-ranked and defending Class 6A state champion Naperville Central in a Class 6A state quarterfinal.

Eleven years later, the 43rd meeting all-time between the two crosstown rivals may not have as much on the line that either of two those matchups in 2000 did, but there are stakes awaiting both teams.

Sitting tied with Wheaton Warrenville South for second place in the DuPage Valley Conference, a game behind Wheaton North, Naperville North still has designs on a conference title with two weeks left in the regular season.

“I think any time you’re playing Naperville Central, it’s very important to the kids for bragging rights and so forth,” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said. “We’re just getting ready for a big game for us. We really haven’t talked about the conference title at all.”

Heading into tonight’s meeting with Naperville Central, Naperville North (5-2, 4-1 DuPage Valley) has won four games in a row and has really put its offense into high gear in each of the past three weeks, albeit against the softer portion within the DVC.

All the Huskies have done in the past three weeks is put up a combined 141 points in routs over West Chicago, Glenbard East and West Aurora, an average of 47 points a game.

Showcasing an offense that’s averaging 243.3 yards a game on the ground to help join a defense that has played well for six of seven games, all eyes will be on Huskies’ senior quarterback Tyler Gehr tonight.

A year ago, the man calling signals under center for the Huskies, Matt LaCosse, made all the difference.

LaCosse, now a tight end at Illinois, ran 27 times for over 170 yards and four touchdowns in the Huskies’ 27-24 victory over the Redhawks, their eighth triumph over their crosstown rivals in the last 11 meetings, which dates back to the 36-33 upset in the 2000 postseason.

While Gehr lacks the cache that comes with being a Division I recruit that LaCosse had, the focus of Naperville Central’s defense will be squarely upon him as it looks to stop Huskies’ senior running back Dan Puknaitis, who has totaled 763 yards and 10 touchdowns this year, run wild.

Following a similar script it used in fain against LaCosse last year, the Redhawks will try their best to make Gehr beat them with his arm as opposed to his legs.

A year removed from playing on the defensive side of the ball, Gehr, who ran for 122 yards and a touchdown in Naperville North’s 17-14 upset of Wheaton Warrenville South in Week 4, hasn’t thrown for more than 230 yards in a game.

“Against any team you play, the goal is to stop the run and force them to be one-dimensional. That’s gonna be the idea with Tyler, as well,” Naperville Central defensive coordinator Mike Ulreich said. “He presents a lot of other problems on back-side. They’ve got their run strength, but he’s almost every play a back-side threat to pull the ball and if we don’t account for him, he could take it.”

Much like the unit his counterpart at Naperville North, Anthony Silvestri, leads, Ulreich’s charges have been very sound through much of the season, allowing an average of 13.7 points a game, including allowing just 34 points the last three weeks against Wheaton Warrenville South, Glenbard North and Wheaton North.

A lot of pressure has been placed upon the Redhawks’ defense due to the struggles of their offense, which hasn’t recorded more than 250 total yards in a game since putting up 399 yards against West Aurora in Week 4.

Despite having senior running back Matt Randolph, who has run for 893 yards and seven touchdowns, in the backfield, the challenges for Naperville Central (4-3, 3-2 DuPage Valley) on offense can be attributed to the struggles senior quarterback Ian Lewandowski has had throwing the football and the unit shooting itself in the foot with penalties.

While Randolph hasn’t run for a touchdown since Week 4 at West Aurora and Lewandowski has thrown for under 100 yards in four of the Redhawks’ seven games thus far, Drendel still is wary of the duo.

“You got to prevent both of them from running and I think Ian’s a proven winner,” he said. “Whether he’s a straight drop-back quarterback or not, there’s different ways to be an effective quarterback. I think judging by the record of some of the teams they’ve beaten, he’s a proven winner.”

While Naperville North is still pushing for a share of its first DVC title since 2008, Naperville Central is still looking for win No. 5 and playoff eligibility, a year after missing out on the postseason for the first time since 2002.

That fifth victory probably will be awaiting the Redhawks next week when they conclude the season at home against 1-6 West Chicago but removing any doubt and perhaps even Naperville North from the DVC race tonight in the process is what’s solely on their collective minds.

“We’re treating it just like a regular game. No different, just like every other game,” Naperville Central coach Mike Stine said. “We prepare every week, we don’t put any more extra emphasis from one week to the next. We got our preparations that we go through. It’s a crosstown game. You can throw records out of the window when this game is played.

“This year, I think both teams happen to be very even on paper. There’s a lot at stake, but we haven’t really talked to the team about putting any added importance (on the game). You got to get to five wins. We got four. We got to get another win and the next team on our schedule is Naperville North.”

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